This Is The End
by loveiscalling
Summary: Featuring Kennedy Brock from The Maine
1. Chapter 1

"Kennedy, I can't." Jess looked down at his chest, which was covered with a black v-neck.

She blinked back the tears threatening to fall out of her eyes, and took a deep, shaky breath, reminding herself to stay strong.

"You can't what, Jess?" Kennedy asked in a soft, confused voice.

"I can't be with you anymore. It's-it's just too much!" Jess' voice began to raise, and Kennedy immediately pulled her body towards his, knowing that she was about to start crying.

"It's okay, baby. Everything's going to be fine." Kennedy hushed her, rubbing her back comfortingly.

Jess just let the tears fall, giving in for a moment. A few minutes later, she attempted to contain her composure.

"I just, I feel too pressured to be your girlfriend. Press has started to call my house, trying to schedule an interview, and there were a couple guys with cameras following me when I was walking Rex the other day, and..." Jess sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I just don't know if I can do this anymore, Ken.".

Kennedy looked down at Jess, trying to make eye contact to see what was really going on. But Jess' eyes were aimed towards the ground, something she always did when she was lying or trying to avoid something. Kennedy gave up on trying to get her to look at him, knowing that it was helpless. He knew all he needed to know. Taking her into his arms once again, Kennedy whispered gently into her ear.

"What's really going on, Jess?" He inwardly begged that her excuse to break their one year relationship off was false, that maybe she was just scared to get hurt. Because truthfully, he was terrified too. Frightened that he had become too attached, too in love with her, that she had too much power to just break his heart. Like this.

"I told you, I just don't want to be followed. You know I don't want to be messed up in the whole famous, Hollywood deal, Kennedy. I'm sorry." She rested her forehead on his chest once again. She felt her eyes watering up again. "I'm so sorry.".

"You promised me." Kennedy said, looking ahead with no emotion in his face or voice. "You promised that you would always be there for me, no matter where the band went. You told me that you were happy for me, and that you always would be. We talked about it before we decided to get serious. You assured me that you were perfectly fine with the band getting more popular. Ecstatic, was the word that you used, if I'm not mistaking. I told you that you might get attention, and that rumors of us might come up. But you know what you told me? You said that we would face them together, when the time came.".

Jess lifted her head from Kennedy's chest for the first time as he paused, her cheeks stained with the tracks of her tears. Her eyes glistened with pain from Kennedy's words, but he refused to look into them.

"Well, know the time's come. And you want to leave me." He concluded.

"Kennedy, I don't want to leave you. I want to be friends, I just-" Jess tried to make up for the guilt that was taking over her entire body.

"Friends! Dammit, Jess! I don't want to be friends! Don't you understand that?" Kennedy's voice was raising by the second, and Jess took a small step back, intimidated.

Kennedy took notice of this, taking a deep breath to control the anger in his voice.

"I love you, Jess."

Jess looked at him, her eyes becoming wide with shock.

Of the whole year they had spent together, neither of them had ever confessed their love for each other. They had never really discussed feelings, or emotions with one another. The both shared the mutual feeling of disliking mushy and corny moments, it just made them feel uncomfortable. But the three words that came out of Kennedy's mouth made Jess speechless.

"I do." He said, assuring her that he wasn't just saying that.

Kennedy sighed, growing tired of Jess' lies and now silence.

"Listen, I know you might be a little annoyed with the phone calls, and you're probably creeped out by the paparazzi, but I know for a fact that that isn't why you want to break up. What aren't you telling me?" He made sure to look right into her eyes, in order to know if she was telling the truth or not.

"I'm sorry." Jess whispered.

She glanced back at the ground before turning her back to him, and walking away. Leaving him in the middle of the street, in front of his house.

Now, Jess held back probably the zillionth set of tears in the four months since that horrible day. She had just been walking home from school, and she overheard two young teenage girls gushing about how amazing The Maine concert was going to be tonight.

She had taken a deep shaky breath, and ran the rest of the way home, knowing that she wouldn't be strong enough to hold back the rush of salty water attempting to spill from her tear ducts much longer. Once at her house, she sprinted into the front door, slamming it behind her and taking the stairs two by two up to her safe, isolated room.

Just one more month, She thought to herself. One more month until I graduate and spend the summer in my room, away from everyone. Then I can get the hell out of this godforsaken town.

Jess fell onto her queen size bed, burying her face into her lime green pillow. She closed her eyes, but immediately opened them when she saw his gorgeous smiling face behind them. Seriously?, She thought, I can't get away!

She sat up, sighing. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get a nap in, she glanced down at the small wet stain on her pillow, and wiped her eyes until they dried. Glancing around her room for something to distract herself, she spotted a small lavender shoebox beneath a stack of papers.

Drawing in a shaky breath, she walked over to it cautiously. Removing the papers, she slowly took the dusty lid off of the box. Her eyes fell on a small stack of pictures, and she instinctively smiled. Surrounding the photos, was a few folded notes, an envelope, a key chain, and a small stuffed pig.

She turned her attention back to the pictures, flipping through them, and smiling widely as she reached her favorite one of her and Kennedy. She was instantly filled with nostalgia, heartbreak,

and regret as she saw the two of them smiling cheesily next to each other after a concert he had

just done, towards the beginning of when they started dating. But despite the devastating rush that

it sent through her body, she couldn't help but smile at the treasured photograph.

Just as she was about to start tearing up at the memories, Jess noticed the abandoned envelope that she had overlooked before again. It had her name in his careless yet neat handwriting on the front. She turned it over, carefully opening it. Then she remembered the exact moment she had gotten this envelope. Kennedy had given it to her personally about a week before the unfortunate day. She ran her fingers over the two tickets, labeled THE MAINE, with today's date on both of them.

"Go." His voice demanded to her.

Jess jumped, glancing around her room alarmed. Where was he? How did he get in here? Why was he here? Jess burst into tears as she realized that it was her conscience urging her to go to the concert, but it's voice belonged to him. Her quick theory for that was that it was because she had shared the happiest memories with him.

Then again, her worst memory she had was shared with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Jess took another deep breath, quavering in reaction to the voice

still echoing in her head.

Falling back onto her bed with a stiff thump, she stared at the

swirling pattern on her ceiling. She hadn't thought about going to the

concert. It had never even crossed her mind that she would be able to

handle it. She thought about seeing the rest of the band, which forced a grin to spread across her cheeks. She missed goofing around and laughing with them. Garrett and Pat had been texting her a lot lately, but she hadn't had the strength to type back. Thinking about them, never mind conversing with them, made Jess' heart throb with pain even more, thinking of Kennedy.

She reminisced on the last concert of theirs she had been to. The

screaming girls, with tears streaming down their faces, screaming at

the top of their lungs, and willing to do anything to just touch one

of the guys. That was almost six months ago, and Jess had been

watching from the right wing backstage.

There was a lot of hesitance to the answer she kept asking herself.

Would she ever be able to handle that?

Jess loved The Maine's music. It was definitely a show she would go

see if she didn't know them personally. It would also be great to see the guys, and laugh at all the physco fans. But what would happen when they played one of the songs written

for her?

During their last tour, Kennedy was the only one in the band dating

someone during their brief time of writing. Therefore, Jess was their

main source of inspiration.

There were only two songs about her that she knew of, but it would

still be heartwrenching hearing John's voice sing about Kennedy's

feelings for her.

"Just go." The voice whispered. "You'll regret it if you don't."

Jess flinched, still uncomfortable with the sound of his angelic voice.

She glanced at the picture of the two of them once again, then looked

towards the direction of her digital clock. The large red numbers read

5:42. There was still enough time. The concert started at 8, and the

venue was an hour away.

Before she could change her mind, Jess leaped off of her bed,

unbuttoning her blue and gray plaid shirt on her short way to the

bathroom. She quickly took a shower, distracting herself by brainstorming on an outfit to wear, rather than where she was about to go.

Jess mentally groaned at the scene of noisy cars, beeping furiously at each other, coating the highway bumper to bumper, surrounding her. Afraid that she'd have to much time to herself to contemplate turning around and sulking into her pillow, she quickly turned up the volume button on the radio to drown out her own thoughts.

She sang along to 'Heaven Can Wait' by We The Kings, and silently prayed to God that she could get through this mess and make it to the concert in one piece.

"Cause heaven can waaaaaait..."

"And that was We The Kings, Heaven Can Wait, on ninety two pro fm! We're gonna turn you over to Barry, who's covering the local traffic reports, how's it looking, Bar?"

"Well, Ryan, everything is looking pretty clear, except there's a 6 mile back up on 495, due to a hot new band, The Maine's concert at Lupo's tonight!"

"Alright, well in honor of the big concert tonight, we're gonna play you a new song from The Maine! This one's called..."

Jess' breathing sped up, her chest rising and falling quickly. She blocked out the voice echoing throughout her car, tightening the grip on her steering wheel, to keep her from loosing it. Her knuckles turned white, as she attempted to focus her thoughts on the road that was beginning to clear ahead of her.

"I'm dodging words, but she's saying the right lines..."

Jess quickly twisted the volume knob all the way down, without taking her eyes off the road. She was now one hundred percent sure that she wouldn't be able to handle tonight. Jess glanced around frantically, looking for a way, an escape, to turn around.

"Don't turn back." Kennedy's voice filled her head. "Please. Please Go. For me."

Jess gasped, then let a moan escape her lips.

"How the hell do I get rid of your voice!" She groaned loudly.

"Go to the concert, Jessie." He demanded.

"Fine!" She muttered, giving in.

Jess came to the conclusion that it would only be a couple hours of pain. She convinced herself that maybe if she attended the concert, maybe if she put herself through the heartbreak of seeing him again after that day that she regretted most in her life, that maybe his voice would go away, and maybe she would finally move on. Although her heart begged her to hold on, her mind advised her to let go. It was worth a try.

Finally, Jess caught sight of the venue, after a painful two hour drive. It was already quarter past eight, but she knew the opening bands would still be playing. Managing to steal a spot on the side of the venue where a minivan was pulling out, Jess let her black flats hit the pavement, as she stepped out of her Volvo. She nervously fidgeted with her white Glamour Kills t-shirt, and her ripped up and faded gray skinny jeans, hoping she had made an appropriate style choice for the event.

Jess made her way towards the short line in front of the building, after clicking the lock button to her black vehicle. Walking through security with ease, she nervously walked around the deserted stadium, trying to find the right curtain to enter through. Finally, she just walked through the closest one, deciding to just ask an employee to point her to her seat.

She tapped on the nearest body with a blue 'STAFF' shirt on, crossing her fingers that it was someone that would subtly guide her to her seat with out causing a scene or judging her in the department of her lack of direction. A petite dark skinned woman turned around, with an irritated look on her face, and Jess internally groaned at her bad luck.

"Excuse me, could you point me to my seat please?" Jess asked as sweet and loud as she could, over the opening and unknown band's booming set.

The lady pursed her lips grumpily, but shined her flashlight onto Jess' ticket.

"Your second row on the floor!" The woman snapped loudly, pointing her finger towards the stairs.

Jess' eyes widened in shock. She couldn't be on the floor, they could see her there! But it didn't look like she would be able to argue with the lady's demands, so she reluctantly thanked her and headed down the stairs, being cautious not to fall or draw attention towards herself in the dark arena.

But Jess didn't have to worry about being a distraction to the crowd. When she actually took notice to her surroundings for the first time, Jess noticed that the crowd was screaming with delight in reaction to the band currently playing. Zooming in on an empty seat next to the aisle, she made a quick decision to slip into the spot.

A young teenage girl stood next to her, with her hands in the air, screaming at the top of her lungs, with a glow stick around her neck. Jess couldn't help but chuckle quietly at her neighbor's actions, but was interrupted by a sharp tap on the shoulder.

"I told you you were down there, girl." The staff member from before glared at Jess.

"Oh, I know, but see, they can see me there, so I figured I could just stand here, you know, innocent and unnoticed?" Jess yelled, not realizing how foolish her statement sound.

The woman shot Jess a look as if she had five heads.

"Listen, Red," The woman stated, referring to Jess' auburn locks,"either get in your correct seat, or get out!"

Jess nodded hesitantly, intimidated by the woman's fierce authority. She languidly made her way down the stairs, her feet clanking heavily on the metal stadium steps. She reached the floor, and glanced at her ticket. Floor A, Row B. Floor A, Row B. Floor A, Row B.

Reaching her destination, Jess was finally able to look up at the stage, realizing that the unknown band members were actually very cute. What did the poster outside say their name was? Jess was well aware that she was much to close to the stage for comfort, but was thankful for the seemingly wild girls that drew the attention away from her around her.

The lead guitarist strung his last note dramatically on stage, thanking the crowd for an awesome show, and declaring it 'one of the best ever!'.

"NOW! ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR OUR FRIENDS...THE MAINE?" He screamed into the microphone.

Thousands of overexcited females burst into a round of screams. Jess looked around, feeling that she would look out of place by not screaming. So, she let her mouth open, and joined the overwhelming crowd of teens.

"Alright! HERE THEY ARE...JOHN! JARED! GARRETT! PAT! ANNNND KENNEDY!"


	3. Chapter 3

Jess gasped, covering her mouth, and instantly seeping into a state of shock as she watched five familiar silhouettes energetically jumped on stage. There was no source of light in the stadium other than screaming fans' glow sticks and cell phones. The first strum of Jared's guitar sparked five spotlights to reveal the eminent band members, satisfying the thousands of fans, who responded by getting even louder. Jess glanced around her, trying to avoid looking at the stage. She frantically tried to get past the insane hormonal girls in her row, to escape the shocking and terrifying feeling her old friends' appearances were giving her, but all she received was an elbow in the arm and a stern 'no' from Kennedy's voice in the back of her head.

Suddenly John's voice floated throughout the substantially huge stadium, providing a heaven like feeling for thousands of people's ears. But Jess' reaction differed dramatically from the rest of the crowds'. Her chest began rising and falling rapidly, and she felt a single bead of sweat roll down her throbbing forehead. She let her eyes drift up to John, who was happily getting into the song. But as she stared, John's body multiplied, and suddenly there was three of him. Jess reached around her for something to hold onto, and she found herself dizzily leaning on a nearby railing for support.

"And she watches the sun, but she's the only one I have my eyes on..."

"You were right, dude. It was her."

Jess blinked, hesitating, but managing to bearly open her eyes. Blurry specks of styrofoam ceiling tiles was all that she saw. She took a deep, shaky, breath, curiously wondering where the familiar voice came from, and what their satement meant. But

her exhaustion got the best of her, and she gave in, allowing her eyes to close again.

Slowly, Jess' wide blue eyes fluttered open, and a feeling of deje vu crept over her. Only this time, an all too familiar swirly patterned ceiling greeted her, as opposed to the tiled one from what she recalled from earlier. Jessie layed still for a few minutes, admiring the white ceiling above her, as she awaited any pain that might suddenly spark throughout her body. So far she hardly remembered anything that happened, and she was bracing herself for the worst.

When she didn't feel anything after a few minutes of cautiously squirming around, Jess slowly sat up, taking in her surroundings. White walls took up most of the room, but they were coated with posters of bands, and drawings, and other sentimental things. The familiar room made Jess even more puzzled. Why was she here?

Heavy footsteps sounded from a few feet outside of the room. Jess' delusional mind began spinning, pondering if she should pretend to be asleep or not. But the brass doorknob was already being jostled, and Jess drew in a sharp breath, frozen in place. A mess of short dark hair attached to a carelessly dressed male adult languidly entered the room.

He sauntered over to a talk wooden bureau across the room, grabbing something off of it blindly, then heading back towards the bedroom exit, not even noticing Jess, who was holding her breath on the bed. Just as his hand brushed the doorknob, Jess let out a breath.

"Garrett." She whispered.

His seemingly overtired looking expression turned into a look of surprise as he met her stare. He muttered something incoherant, and then walked towards Jess, taking a seat on the double bed next to her.

"How are ya doin'?" Garrett asked with a sheepish grin, breaking the thin ice between the two.

"I feel like I've been better." Jess replied, rubbing her eyes sleepily to show it. "How about you?"

Garrett chuckled lightly. Even in situations like this, she still had manners.

"I feel like I've been better too." He agreed.

Jess sighed, ready to get to the point.

"What happened, Garrett?" She asked bluntly.

"Well..." He began hesitantly, trying to think o how to put it. "You came to our concert last night, and Kennedy kept telling us during the end of the opening act that he saw you, but none of us believed him, since he sort of 'sees you' a lot, but anyways, during our first song, I guess you sort of passed out, and someone in your row told security, who brought you backstage. Some trainer that we apparently have checked you out and said you would be fine, and then he told our manager, Matt, who told us that we should meet you when you woke up, and we agreed, and well, we were pretty surprised to see it was you, seeing as you've barely had contact with any of us for the past three months, so me and Pat got yelled at for hugging you, cause you know, we were excited to see you, concsious or not! But then, Kennedy said he couldn't see you like that, and he left. So then John went to find him, and then Jared went to find John. And me and Pat brought you back here, and now we're here, and Pat's downstairs, and we haven't heard from the other guys." Garrett took a deep breath, because he had basically told that story in about 60 seconds.

There were hundreds of thoughts soaring through Jess' mind. Why did Kennedy leave? Did he really not want to see me like that, or did he just not want to see me at all? And what does Garrett mean Kennedy 'sees' me alot? Jess thought.

"What do you mean he 'sees' me a lot?" Jess blurted. "Well, uh, I probably wasn't supposed to say that, but uh..." Garrett subtly rubbed the back of his neck, a trait that reminded Jess solely of Kennedy, cause her to smile weakly.

"See, Kennedy thinks he sees you at shows all the time. He'll point out practically every redhead he sees, he even though a blonde girl was you one time..." Garrett trailed off, leaving Jess with that thought.

"Oh..." Jess muttered, shocked.

Suddenly 'Happy' by Savage blared through Garrett's room, echoing off the decorated walls. He glanced down at his iPhone, and took a deep breath, glancing up at Jess.

"It's John."


	4. Chapter 4

Garrett hesitated, but as Jess remained speechless, he pressed a button and held his iPhone up to his ear.

"Hello?" Garrett answered.

"Dude, where are you? Did you find Kennedy?"

Garrett looked concerned, but also shot a worried look at Jessie as she immediately winced at the sound of his name.

"Yeah, yeah she's here."

"And awake, yes John."

"Are you sure? Doesn't that seem a little juvenile?"

"Yeah, I guess, but-"

"Well that's not really fair-"

"Alright."

"Did Jared find you?"

"Good. When will you guys be back?"

"Um-yeah, yeah she will."

"Okay, say hi for me. Ok, bye."

Garrett slowly pulled the phone away from his ear, laying his eyes on Jess.

She was staring and fiddling with her silver ring, in the shape of wings.

"Jessie, are you okay?" Garrett asked in a big brother tone, placing a hand on her knee.

Jess drew in a shaky breath, "Yep."

"You're lying through your teeth, Jessica." Garrett gently lifted Jess' chin with his pointer finger, forcing her to make eye contact with him. "You miss him, huh?"

Jess just nodded hopelessly in response.

"Everything's gonna be okay, honey." Garrett assured her, throwing his arm over her shoulders and flashing her a small smile.

"Thank's Garrett, but let's face it, I've been a hopeless wreck since the minute I broke up with him." Jess' eyes began to water, but she quickly blinked, holding them back.

"Wait, you broke up with him?" Garrett asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yeah." Jess shot him a puzzled yet regretful look.

But her expression quickly changed to one of realization as her eyes widened and jaw dropped.

"Wait, did he tell you he broke up with me?" Jess screeched.

"No, no. He never really told us anything. He was so mopey, and when we called your mom-"

"You called my mom?" Jess nearly gasped.

"Hey, you wouldn't answer any of our calls!" Garrett said defensively. "We wanted to see if you were okay!"

"So you called my mom." Jessie concluded.

"Yes we did, and she said that you had been miserable since you came back from seeing Kennedy a week before." He said. "So we assumed that you guys broke up, and Kennedy confirmed that a few weeks later, when he actually started talking to us. Well, actually, all he did was nod when we asked, but he never told us anything about it, so we never knew. You should know that Kennedy would never do that."

Jess looked down at Garrett's navy blue comforter.

"Well, I haven't talk to him in a while, so who knows." She sighed.

"Jessie."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, giving in.

"Yeah, Garrett, I know he wouldn't do that."

Garrett flashed her a toothy looking grin, probably attempting to look triumphant but just looking foolish.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Jess asked, giving him a creeped out expression.

"I greatly enjoy being right." Garrett said.

"I see. And from past experiences I know that doesn't happen too often. I'm guessing by the way your taking advantage of the opportunity that you still aren't right very often?"

Garrett just stared at Jessie with his mouth open a little bit, without blinking.

"Right." Jess sighed, closing his mouth with her hand, "Smaller words."

"Well, I think I'm gonna venture - I mean - make my way, home now. This place is bringing out my depression even more than usual. It's been nice visiting, and I'm sorry-"

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOO!" Pat screamed, bolting into the room.

"YOU CAN'T LEAVE!" He gasped, wrapping Jess in his arms and holding onto her with the tightest grip possible for dear life.

Jess' eyes were about popping out of their sockets, and Garrett could see her face turning a dark shade of crimson from Pat's death grip on her. He ripped Pat off of her, and she nodded in appreciation while trying to catch her breath back.

"Wait, depression? Does that mean you take, like happy pills or something?" Garrett questioned, oblivious to Jess' suffocation.

Jess took a deep breath, chuckling a little at Garrett's term for her pills, but nodded.

"You can't leeeeeeeeeave me! Not with him! PLEEEEASE!" Pat had continued his fit, kneeling on Garrett's bedroom floor, and wrapping his lanky arms around Jess' legs.

"Pat, seriously?" Garrett pondered.

"He eats all my oreos! And he eats them whole! He doesn't even savor them by taking them apart and licking the middle like your supposed to! And sometimes, he doesn't even eat them with MILK! PLEASE don't leave me with this cruel man! I'm begging you! DON'T LEEEEAVE MEEEEE!"

"OKAY! I WON'T LEAVE! JUST GET OFF OF ME!" Jess yelled impatiently.

"YAAAAAAAY!" Pat cheered, standing up and giving her a hug, then tucking his hair behind his ears, and sprinting out of the room with his hands over his head. "RAAAATBOY WANNNTS CHEEEEESE!"

Jess just shot Garrett a 'did that really just happen?' look, and he shrugged in return.

"So...you'll stay an extra night?" Garrett grinned hopefully.

"I really don't think I have a choice." Jess replied, sighing.


	5. Chapter 5

Jess folded back Garrett's comforter, sighing with annoyance.

"Why can't I sleep on the couch?" She complained to Garrett, who was concentrating hard on his intense game of guitar hero on the flat screen across the room.

"Because it's dark down there, and then we wouldn't be having a slumber party in here like old times!" He said, half focusing on Jessie.

"Then can I at least sleep on the floor? It feels wrong taking your bed." Jess said, feeling guilty.

"Chivalry isn't dead, Jessica! You will sleep in my bed, and that's final!" Garrett demanded.

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" Pat screamed, walking by in the hallway.

Jess rolled her eyes, but cracked a grin at the two boys. They were so different, but then completely the same. She was so lucky to have them as friends. But she had ignored them for a good four months, and now they pretended like it hadn't even happened. So this was it, she was forgiven, just like that?

"Garrett." Jessica spoke quietly, taking a seat indian style on the bed.

He paused the game, immediately looking back at her with a concerned expression. It was incredible how he could switch to being completely crazy and hilarious to serious and caring in a matter of seconds. It was like he knew exactly how to act all the time.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"How come you don't hate me?" She questioned, softly but bluntly.

"What?" Garrett asked, seemingly surprised. He stood up, walking towards her and joining her on the bed.

"I could never hate you, Jessica, where did that come from?"

"Garrett, I ignored you and shut you out for like four months. You could have just left me in the hospital, and pretended you didn't know me, but instead you bring me here and treat me like family. I don't get it. You should hate me." She stated.

"Jess, I know why you shut me out. Why you shut all of us out. We get it. Nobody hates you, no one is even a little mad at you. And you are family, you're like our little sister, Jessie, you know that." Garrett draped his arm around her comfortingly, just like earlier.

"You're way to perfect, you know that?" Jess chuckled slightly.

"Woah, woah, woah! Don't go falling for me now, young one! You were Kennedy's lady!" Garrett teased her, taking his arm back and putting his hands up in defense.

Jess laughed, ignoring his name.

"Don't worry," She muttered,"I won't be falling for anyone else for a long, long, time."

A switch went off in Garrett's brain again, and his caring big brother expression made an appearance once again.

"Jessie, can I ask you, why did you break up with him, if you love him so much?"

Jess sighed, "That's just it, I love him so much."

She left the statement with no explanation, due to her shock. Jess hadn't ever told anyone the actual reason of why she broke up with Kennedy, and she had never expected for it to just slip out like that. Once she snapped out of her surprised daze, she realized that she actually felt about two pounds lighter, like a small amount of weight had lifted off her shoulders from sharing her secret. But as Jess looked up, she could see that Garrett was giving her a look of confusion, so she decided to release some more weight, since it felt so good.

"I was afraid. I was afraid that he just had so much of me, he had so much power to just," she drew in a shaky breath,"break me, in an instant."

The words that they were both thinking were on the tip of Garrett's tongue, but he was too sensitive to say them, so Jessie cleared the air.

"Just like I did to him.

"I know you don't think it makes any sense, and to be honest I don't think it does either, but at the time- I was just petrified. I was so scared that he would just wake up one day and think, 'Why the hell am I with her? There are so many prettier and funner girls out there' I just, I just gave in, I guess. I don't know, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but, it turns out it was the biggest mistake of my life."

Garrett remained silent, only wrapping Jessie into his arms, for her to stain his shirt with her tears.


	6. Chapter 6

"SLUUUUMBER PARRRRRTY!" Pat yelled, running into Garrett's room, a blue power rangers sleeping bag in hand.

He giddily laid his temporary bed on the floor, right next to the futon that Garrett insisted on sleeping on.

Garrett and Jess exchanged a glance, then proceeded to crack up laughing.

"Dude, you have your own room, why do you wanna sleep in here?" Garrett chuckled.

"Cause I don't wanna miss anything!" Pat said, rolling his eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Now..." Pat suddenly jumped on the bed, tucked his hair behind his abnormally enlarged ears, crouching. "RATBOY WANTS SUGAR!" He screamed.

Jess' eyes widened, then she fell on the floor with laughter. Garrett just rolled his eyes, cracking a small smile. Jessie had forgotten how much she missed being with these guys.

An hour later, Garrett and Jess stood on either side of Pat, who was wrapped up like a baby in his sleeping bag, practically passed out.

"I guess his sugar rush had to hit a wall sometime." Jess giggled.

"He's drooling on my favorite pillow." Garrett pouted.

Jess laughed, "Come on, let's watch a movie."

They both agreed on The Hangover, and Jess settled on Garrett's bed while he set the DVD up. They hadn't even gotten to Jess' favorite part (where the Chinese guy says 'Toodaloo Mothafuckaaaaahs!'), before she was dead asleep on Garrett's shoulder.

He chuckled, slipping away, and placing her head on her pillow, then shutting of the TV and crashing on the pillow next to her.

The sunlight peeking through the blinds caused Jess' eyes to flutter open. She tried to take in her surroundings, but a heavy arm was on top of her back, preventing her from any movement at all. Jess easily remembered what happened last night, and smiled at the bonding time she had shared with her two long lost best friends.

Jess thought she heard footsteps in the hallway, and she assumed that Pat had already begun his intake of sugar for the day. Then she swore she heard the doorknob jiggle.

"Woah!" A deep voice exclaimed loudly from the doorway.

Jess immediately sat up, frightened of an intruder. Garrett stirred, then sat up too.

They both saw a tall, skinny figure in the doorway, who was joined by another shorter body.

"What the hell is going on here?" His voice exclaimed.

Jess gasped at the sound of it, resisting the urge to pinch herself to actually find out if this was real.

"Kennedy, nothing happened, calm down." Garrett said groggily.

"Dude, you said she wouldn't be here-" John said.

"What?" Jess looked at Garrett confused.

"How could you do this? What part of 'I'm still in love with her' don't you understand?" Kennedy exclaimed, glaring at Garrett coldly.

He looked at Jess, who's jaw was dropped. His eyes changed from betrayed to hurt and love. But then he shook his head, mumbling something under his breath and walking out of the room.

"Kennedy, wait!" Garrett yelled, scrambling to follow after him.

John sighed, moving from his place in the doorway to plop next to Jess on the bed.

Jessie just stared blankly at a spot of sunlight on Garrett's bed.

He still loved her.

"Jessie? Hello?" John asked again.

"What?" She picked her head up sadly.

"I said are you okay?" He said.

"Just peachy." She mumbled, falling back on the bed.

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"We didn't do anything, you believe us, right?" Jess asked him hopefully.

"I believe you." John said quietly.

She slowly sat back up.

"We were watching a movie last night, and Garrett was just comforting me, because-" Jess stopped.

"Because what?" He asked curiously.

"Because I still love him." Jess said pathetically.

"I'm so confused." Pat said from the floor.

John jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Fuck, Pat! Where the hell did you come from?" He exclaimed, freaked out.

"I've been here the whole time." Pat told him innocently.

He ignored John's mini-heart attack and looked at Jess.

"If you and Kennedy both love each other, how come you aren't boyfriend and girlfriend still?"

Jess sighed, holding back tears.

"It's complicated, Patty."


	7. Chapter 7

"Kennedy, wait!" I jumped off of the bed, chasing after him.

I trotted downstairs, where I caught up with him in the living room.

"Kennedy, nothing happened! I would NEVER go there, man! She's like my sister, and you love her." I pleaded with him. "You have to believe me! And our clothes were ON!"

Kennedy turned to face me, an expression of pain still clearly on his face.

"You didn't do anything with her?" He asked.

"No! And Pat was there the whole time!" I rationed.

"Then why were you in the same bed?" Kennedy asked, confused.

"Pat crashed early last night, and Jess-" Kennedy flinched at her name,"and I watched a movie, and we both fell asleep. It was nothing else, I swear."

"Okay. But Garrett, why the hell is she here? John said that you told him she was fine and she was leaving. I told you I can't handle seeing her! And now do you see what I mean? I freak out like this! I'm not ready to see her again, not after what happened." Kennedy said.

"She told me what happened." I said quietly.

Kennedy looked up at me.

"She still loves you." I whispered.

Kennedy shook his head.

"No she doesn't, that's just sympathy talking." He said doubtfully.

"I don't think so, man. I really think you should talk to her."

Kennedy plopped onto the couch, with his head in his hands, obviously frustrated.

"I don't know if I can." He mumbled.

Jess' POV

Suddenly the seriousness in the room grew to be too much for the two boys or something, because Pat challenged John to a game of Halo, and he gladly excepted, forgetting about my pain. I silently slipped out of the room, creeping quietly downstairs.

Staying behind the wall, I strained to hear what Garrett and Kennedy were talking about.

"I don't think so, man. I really think you should talk to her." Garrett said.

I heard someone sit on the couch, making a quiet squeaking noise.

"I don't know if I can." Kennedy mumbled.

A few tears rolled down my cheeks, and I let out a sniffle, unaware of how loud it was.

"Jessie, is that you?" Garrett asked.

I cringed, busted.

I came out from behind the wall, walking down the rest of the stairs.

"Um, yeah. I was coming to say bye, cause I have to go, so um, bye." I rambled, walking towards the door.

"Jess, wait." Kennedy's voice said.

I froze in my tracks. A change of heart?

I pushed all of the hope that had immediately piled up in my head aside, and turned to face him, with the tracks of my tears still clear as day on my face.

"I think we should talk." He said, glancing at Garrett.

"I'm gonna go see if Pat broke anything yet." Garrett said, awkwardly pointing to the stairs, then bolting up them.

I slowly walked towards Kennedy, taking a seat next to him without looking at him.

We sat uncomfortably in silence for what seemed like hours, until he finally turned to face me.

"I'm sorry." He said.

I looked up at him, confused.

"Why?" I asked.

"For freaking out before. I know you and Garrett wouldn't ever do anything, and I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable with everything that I said." He said.

"You don't need to apologize." I told him.

Kennedy stayed silent, and so did I.

"How have you been?" He finally asked quietly.

Despite the situation, I let out a small, sarcastic laugh.

"Oh, just great."

He looked at me, puzzled, but with a knowing expression also, like he knew exactly how I felt.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"Pretty much the same." He said dolefully.

Silence.

"You were right that day." I whispered.

He looked at me.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It wasn't about the paparazzi, or the creeps calling my house. I was, I mean I still am, happy for your success and everything you've accomplished." I stopped there, realizing that I wasn't able to say the rest. I hadn't been prepared to talk to him, or any of this.

I was just a coward.

"You were scared." He finished quietly for me.

I looked at him, wondering if he had some sort of ESP or something.

"Yeah." I said. "How did you know?"

"I was scared too." He admitted.

"We just, we had so much of each other, and all it would have taken was for you to wake up one day and say why the hell am I with this chick? And just like that. I'm heartbroken. I was terrified." Tears were forming in my eyes again, and I couldn't hold them back.

"I know that, because I felt the exact same thing every moment I spent with you. But Jessie, love is scary! Hell, if it wasn't, everyone would be married, and there'd be no one left! It's the biggest risk of your life, being in love! Wondering if they'll ever hurt you, or if they'll die tomorrow, or the next day, and leave you forever? It's fucking terrifying! But why do you think people do it anyways? It's because sometimes when you find the right person, it's worth the risk." Kennedy's eyes were watering a little bit. "I thought we were worth it."

"I'm sorry." I said sincerely, sniffling."I'm sorry what I did that day. I really am, because it was the biggest mistake of my life. I was a wreck for four months. And then I found the ticket you gave me, and all of a sudden your voice popped into my mind, telling me to go. It freaking scared me to death, but I listened, because even though part of me wanted to get over you, the other part of me needed to hear your voice even more."

Kennedy was speechless.

"Kennedy."

He looked at me, his eyes filled with shock and confusion and love.

"I think we still are worth it."

He allowed a smile to spread across his face, pushing all of the fear, and the pain, the tears, and the mistakes aside and focusing on the only thing that mattered after all, which was love.

"JUST KISS ALREADY!" Pat yelled from behind the wall.

John shushed him, and the three of them peeked from behind the wall, blushing.

We both laughed, and Kennedy took hold of my face with his strong but delicate hands and pressed his lips to mine, for the first time in four months.

As he pulled away, butterflies erupted in my stomach, and he pressed his forehead to mine.

"This isn't the end." I whispered, and he smiled, as we both thought of the song he wrote when we were both devastated and longing for each other.

"I love you." He said, pecking his lips to mine once more.

"I love you too." I said.


End file.
